Play On

I like a wide variety of music from all countries, to all time periods... classical, opera, big band, country, lounge, broadway (duh)... but other than the staples (Cher, Madonna, Barbra, Bette, Reba), I've never really had a person that I would follow to the ends of the earth... until Carrie (and I don't mean the bloody period prom spoiler). Carrie Underwood is the epitome of what a performer should be... fantastic voice, beautiful, kind, humble, caring... and the list goes on. She is really a great person and someone to look up to, coming from nothing and doing what was right to get to the top. More performers today should take notice. This is what 'superstar' looks like when you look it up on Wikipedia. Today, her new album comes out and, although I didn't camp out overnight, I'll be there in a bit to get it as soon as Target opens their doors. On a side note, Kris Allen's CD isn't that bad... guess my ex-lover really didn't need me afterall to make it.

"This Is It"... and it was!

Most aging singers wind up using a lot of backup singers to cover up that their voice has changed or isn't as strong as it was. They don't take as many risks in their performances. Not true of Michael Jackson. If there was any doubt in anyone's mind how his comeback concert was going to go, rest assured, it would have been spectacular. After seeing his limited-release movie tonight, there's no doubt in my mind.

Music has changed a lot over the years. I'm sure our parents thought the same thing. His music was both meaningful and simple as well as fun. I'm not a die-hard fan, but you can't help to know his music and tap, if not dance, along to it. He was brilliant in his own right. It's a shame that he really didn't get to show that he still had it... It would have been a once-in-a-lifetime, spectacular showing. I highly recommend everyone sees it.

Halloween

I've never been a fan of Halloween. I guess being a logical person, I never really got caught up in make-believe. I did, however, like the creative side to the holiday, and I usually come up with a bunch of great ideas for costumes that don't ever come to fruition. The times that I do recall dressing up as a kid, I really don't remember having fun. It seemed like it always rained. I remember having my mom's blanket around me with a sombrero on my head and the vision that I have was of my red rubber boots... I can still see me looking down at them in the dark in the rain... a very vivid memory. I'm assuming that my brother and I got these outfits for Xmas... since the tree is up (and the mandatory setting of in front of the mirror so that my Dad can be in the shot looking down at his Brownie camera). I'm wondering at what age I took my stance on gun possession... not yet, obviously, from my packed holster. Gun or not, I think I would have been pistol-whipped out of the wild west with those candy-striped pants and white tie. Remember when Halloween costumes came in a box with clear cellophane lids for your viewing pleasure? And (living in Pittsburgh with the Clark company local) you got 35 Clark Bars in your bag?

One thing that I've always been good at was eating candy and Halloween was like one big fucking exploding pinata. I couldn't hardly wait until we got home to empty out the bag onto the table to see what treasures I got. In those days, candy didn't have to be padded down, tested for DNA and ran through a metal detector first so, while still wet and in your red rubber boots, you could start trading candy with your siblings... and enjoying every bit of the treats. In the early days, before the advent of the 'plan houses', you had to work for it... walking up long driveways with big yards... then we got wise and hit the plans, scoring half a pillowcase or more. No wonder we all have ADD. In our day it was just called having a case of the 'high spirits' or being labeled as 'rambunctious'. Lately, I've been on a sugar kick and it needs to stop. Enough with the pop too... It's a wonder that I'm not diabetic. With Halloween looming...Thanksgiving, Xmas, Valentine's Day and Easter are all on the horizon, I should be able to do just fine staying away from the sweets. Not.

Fallingwater & Kentuck Knob

Today, 11 of us went to Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob, which is about an hour and a half from Pittsburgh. Both residences were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright; Fallingwater for the Kaufmann family (former owners of the local Kaufmann department stores fortune) and Kentuck Knob for the Hagan family (ice cream). Having two totally different Wrightian styles but sharing some key elements (like cantilevering (anchored only on one end without opposite end supports)), use of local materials and making inside and outside one flowing design). Fallingwater, I believe, is the most famous home in the country and the house is set jutting overtop of a waterfall and way in the woods. Kentuck Knob is set on the top of a hill (knob) and the view is spectacular. Both are beautiful in their own right (Wright).

It was the perfect day... the weather was clear, sunny and brisk... we had a tailgate party and had lunch at an Ohiopyle cafe.

You can view all the pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/44214610@N02/

Why Dogs Bite People

My favorite is the Chihuahua...

Why dogs bite people @ Yahoo! Video

This week has pretty much been a bust for me. Giving in to feeling strangely exhausted all week made for a pretty non-productive week. I've slept way too much and sat in front of the TV the rest of the time... waiting for the flu or something to break out... but nothing happened.

This weekend is the big Halloween party. I was dressing up, but don't feel like it now. That always happens to me... I'm not a big dresser-upper anyway. On Sunday, we're heading to Fallingwater for the day-trip. Both should be fun.

I'm in a rut right now. I have to be able to break through it. I'm hoping that after this weekend, I'll be able to do that. I drastically need to change my eating habits, be more active physically and secure a winter job to keep me busy. It's amazing how we build these walls to stop us from doing things. The logic is there... it's simple... 'I'm going to go to the gym right now'... and yet, you don't do it. Maybe the key is setting goals. Or maybe I need someone with a belt to smack me. People are motivated by different things. Wish I knew what my motivations are right now.

The Boob Tube

I have to admit that, over time, my taste/comprehension/limits for TV have drastically changed. While the most intelligent shows that I watch are probably CSI, NCIS, Cash Cab, and various others from the History and Discovery channels, a large majority fall into the 'mindless TV' range. I find that by the time I finally sit down to watch TV at 10 p.m., the last thing that I want to do is have to think about it. So, instead, I watch things like: Big Bang Theory, New Adventures of Old Christine, The Middle, Modern Family, Glee, Grey's Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters, Gary Unmarried, Private Practice, Desperate Housewives, SNL, Chelsea Lately, Hell's Kitchen and Two and a Half Men.

Then there are the shows that I find myself watching, which I refer to as 'train wreck' shows... you know, the shows that you feel guilty watching... or change the channel when someone walks in the room... or can't look away. I am embarrassed to say that these are the 'train wreck' shows that I watch: Tool Academy, Dallas Divas and Daughters, Parking Wars, Real World, Wife Swap, Supernanny, Paris Hilton's My New BFF, and Bromance. I think that the common thread between them is that I enjoy trying to figure out why people do the things they do... I'm always amazed when I watch people do stupid things. Maybe someone is watching me watching those shows, amazed at my stupidity?

Blah (blah blah)

Today is one of those days that Pittsburgh is famous for... damp and cloudy and dreary. It's hard for me to tell whether I am depressed sometimes or actually sick. I spent five hours in bed yesterday... having that sort of feeling where you know something is wrong with your body, you're just not sure what it is yet though. I spent the better part of the day and night laying in bed. Overall a pretty non-productive day... the kind that I guilt myself out for. Next week, I'm going to be actively looking for a winter job to keep me busy. I'm not the kind of person to give in to laziness or sickness, but sometimes you just need to let your body do what it wants.

After putting all the furniture on the porch for the Salvation Army to come last Wednesday, only to have to put it all back in the same day, and drag it out again this morning, they wound up not even taking half of it. Who knew that the receivers of donations would be so picky. If they were in the shape that they wanted them to be in, I would have kept them or sold them myself and made some money on them. So much for 'beggars can't be choosers'... more like 'givers must be beggars'.

Boo and AAARRRGGGHHH!

Last night was Monday Movie Madness and although it was only Matt and me that went, we saw Saw... or we went to see Saw... (either sounds stupid)... being that I'm not really a horror movie fan, I do like serial killer movies and more realistic gore (which kind of scares me to think that I enjoy watching people get mutilated). It had all the expected mechanisms and guts as usual, but this one had a nice little plot that wrapped up some of the loose ends from the other 36 prequels and sequels and had some unexpected twists. To put it on the bags of leaves scale wouldn't really be right, so, I'll just have to say that, in keeping with Halloween this week, it's a must see (Saw).

In a totally unrelated (although horrific travesty), I think I have, in past posts, established that the landscaping crew here is, although nice to look at, stupid. And don't even get me started on the red mulch... but I just had to go out and fix their crappy edging, replace a dead bush and.... aaarrrggghhh... 'spruce' up the mulch (if that's possible to do to red mulch). Imagine my disdain and confusion in the logic that, to make something horrible better, you have to add more of it... (although I guess that John and Kate +8 could fall into this category for many different reasons... (more kids got them the show... being bigger assholes got them train-wreck mentality following and endorsements, etc.)). Any way, somebody has to reimburse me for the three bags of mulch I had to buy... and pain and suffering wouldn't be bad either.

An Update on Two....

Earlier this year, you may remember me posting the blog about the 'stalker' landscaper... well, he was back again a few days ago... some people never take the hint. Sadly, his being out there didn't stop me from having to buy three bags of red mulch and two plants to fix the front of the house. They suck. I'm going to approach my landlord about the contract.

Also, my ex-boyfriend, Kris Allen (from American Idol fame) is back in the tabloids again... apparently not only Adam's songs are doing better than Kris', but so are Allison's. Perhaps if I didn't cut him loose, he'd still be on top. I guess this only proves that I was the driving force.

Another Season Comes to an End

This weekend at camp was really nice. The weather sucked... first warm, then cold, then raining... it's really difficult when it rains up there because, with everything on hills, it gets so muddy and slippery. As usual, the day we leave (Sunday) is always the nicest. A lot of people dressed up for the contest and the pumpkin carving had some great entries. The leaves were just starting to fall off, so it was really beautiful. You can kind of see the lay of the land in these pictures. Since I didn't have to do massages, it was nice to just sit back and relax a bit.

Terror Ridge Weekend

This is the last weekend at camp. We celebrate Halloween one weekend early, and they set up what's called 'Terror Ridge' (because the whole camp is on a series of ridges). They have a barn that they set up a maze on the two floors, with surprises lurking around each corner. Last year, it was petrifying... the worst, most scariest, chilling, frightening, mentally scarring, eerie, shriek-envoking thing was when you turned the one corner...................................... (get ready for it, it's terrifying)..................... they had a TV playing........................ lesbian porn........... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing more scary to a bunch of gay guys than snatch, much less two of them or more. There's also a pumpkin carving contest and lots to do. Anyway, I'm leaving in a little bit, and won't be back until Sunday. Have a good weekend!

A Day at the House

I wanted to be outside today, so I took my tree pruners and cut back the large Maple trees in the front yard. They were hanging almost down to the grass... duh... no one has done anything over there for years. I took two loads to the composting site. I had to get the furniture back into the house after bringing it all out on the porch for the Salvation Army yesterday. I also got the hallway painted and some other things.

The outside of the house, even let go, shows well. My Dad cut grass today... it takes about 4 hours. I wanted to do it the other day, but it gives him something to do. The long-needle pine tree in the backyard to the right of the 1st picture was the size of Charlie Brown's tree when we planted it. Across from that, the people who owned it in the 50's leveled the yard for a tennis court or pool, but didn't do either. We used it as the football field. In the 3rd pic down, the area near the house was the baseball diamond. And in the last two pictures, when the leaves fell, we would rake out roads in the front yard and ride around, making leaf forts for our houses.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Last week, I had scheduled the Salvation Army to stop by my Dad's and pick up some furniture. Of course, they give you a window of time (8-3) when they may (or may not) show up... so I raced over to the house and got all the furniture (7 pieces) out onto the front porch to make it easier when they came. I went about my business and got the hallway painted and did some odds and ends... at 3, they hadn't come yet, so I left and called them on the way home... here there was a mix up and it's next Wednesday that they are coming. So all the stuff is on the front porch still. I have to go and bring it back in tomorrow. Fortunately, it was 72 and sunny today (after 35 degree highs last week) and will be tomorrow as well, so at least it didn't get wet.

I hated to be indoors today. This is our last big load of warm weather... so I went out to Raccoon State Park and took my camera. I was probably about a week too late. Most of the trees were already changed, but I got some nice pics. I'd like to skip out tomorrow for a bit as well... I leave on Friday for the last weekend of camp. Sadly, the weather is changing to rain and colder on Friday for the weekend, so camp will probably be miserable.

Paranormal Activity Movie: Abnormally Bad

So... I'm going to give my take on this movie... and some might think thats a 'spoiler'... but, trust me, there's nothing to spoil. It's not like I could give the plot away... cause there isn't one to begin with.

Let me first say that, as a gauge to this review, I don't scare easily. The Blair Witch Project was truly the most scariest thing I have ever seen. I was petrified. And I think the thing that laid the groundwork for reaching that stage in BWP was a heightened sense of irritability... from the wobbly hand-held camera and how annoying that snotty-nosed pale girl was throughout... and shots into the darkness... you were anxious going into it. I classify horror movies in two categories... blood and guts ones where people are too stupid to run and they deserve to die... and real life like ones that are more plausible. Blair Witch nailed it... and this one tried.

It had the paranormal aspect... the wobbly camera... the irritating girl... and the unknown stalker 'thingy'. Sadly, 2 minutes into the movie, I was hoping that the 'thingy' would twist the boyfriend's neck off and then dine on the girlfriend's fat ass. At least the stoners in BWP were cool. These two get on your nerves immediately, so you really don't care about them. You find yourself rooting for the 'thingy' right out of the gate. On top of that, so little goes into the paper-thin plot and it takes so long for anything decent to happen that you wind up wondering who the dumb-fuck was that funded this movie and why it got great reviews from somewhat intelligent critics. TOTALLY disappointing... not only to Matt and me, but to everyone that was around us when the movie was through. People were laughing throughout much more than being scared. I didn't jump once through it... and pretty much no one else did either. I heard the budget was around $40k for this movie using no-name actors... "and the Oscar goes to...."... nobody in this movie...


This one's not even worth rating using the leaf bag scale... in fact, I would rate this a pile of moldy, wet leaves that you begrudgingly had to get the ladder out to scoop out of the gutters and threw on the ground... stomped on them... kicked them about a bit... let the dog pee on them and then went about your business.

Gonna Be a Bright, Bright, Bright, Bright Sunshiny Day

What a gorgeous day it is today. Night and day for me in regards to mood. Sadly, I just don't think I should be living in a city that has only 20% of the days of the year sunny. Today, I have some running around to do... and I'm going to cut grass at my Dad's to be outside. Four hours on a tractor going round and round sounds almost mouse-on-a-wheel-like for some... for me, it's therapeutic. Plus I can continue to charge my seratonin batteries. We're going to see 'Paranormal tonight', so I'll need all the bright and sunny and cheery I can get.

Not Taking the Bridge... Yet.

As I have said before, this blog is very cathartic for me. Lately, it's been a double-edged sword though. On one hand, I want/appreciate people's concern when they read something I write but, on the other hand, I don't want to feel like I can't think/say/post something because I don't want people to worry about me. I'm a Gemini. I see things from (at least) both sides... add this to a streak of crazy and some medication and I am a pretty complex, moody, broody person to begin with. Most times, I talk about something, write it down or bitch about it and I feel much better... or I get a good night sleep and feel better the next day. And while I'm not so much worried about ticking someone off, I just don't want to cause unneccesary concern.

Steam: A Turkish Bath

I enjoy all kinds of movies and most times, I'm happiest with a foreign one... different directing styles and acting techniques... and besides, how many fucking rom-coms can we watch Jennifer Anniston in anyway?

This clip is, by far, my favorite. It's from a movie called 'Steam: A Turkish Bath'. Without going too far into the plot, the guy in the black shirt travels to Turkey to look after a dead Aunt's estate and falls in love with the guy in the light blue shirt. There's a lot more that goes into it (he is recently drifting apart from his wife, etc.). The two guys have been hanging out for a few weeks now... and regardless of the backstory, you feel everything in the clip, where you see them hanging out on a dock... the light blue shirt one talking to his friend and the dark shirt one admiring him from afar. The moment when the light blue shirt one looks over at the other one, and then does a double take... and they realize the connection... is absolutely beautiful... it sends chills through me every time. I wish I could find someone to look at me that way. Also, at the end of the clip when they are lying next to each other and when the laughter stops, it is an awkward moment again. Stunning.

With the movie's languages being Italian and Turkish, it doesn't even matter. It's written in the language of love. And as Gloria Swanson said (as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard)... "Words, words and more words... in my day, we didn't need words... we had faces"... proving that so much can be said without saying a word... in the gestures... your eyes...

AutumnFest at Seven Springs Ski Resort

Today, about ten of us from the local branch of the RCFAA (Roseland Campers for Alternative Activities) had our outing to Seven Springs. Being only an hour a way, it was short enough for us all not to kill each other during the car ride there and far enough away for me to threaten to throw someone out to walk home if they misbehaved. We wanted to partake in the fall foliage, but we also got a glimpse of the first snowfall of the year... apparently they got more last night, but most of it melted already.

After trying to herd everyone together like cattle (we were meeting another group of friends there), we finally got everybody together to go have Bloody Mary's in the Foggy Goggles lounge, slope side. After two drinks, we were all smashed (by 'we', I mean mostly me) and we rode the ski lift up to the top and back down again. Truly the highlight of the day (not counting my buzz, which was more than necessary to cope with my friends). It was like the school bus doors swung open and they decended upon the scene with the ferver of 5th graders... attracted to every shiny object. After that, we shopped around in the fine arts and crafts booths (mostly doilies and whittled stuff), and then had a nice... somewhat Octoberfesty... lunch.

In retrospect, it may have been better to just go with a smaller group... noone being adult enough to wait for this one while they made a sissy... or this one wanted to go here and this one didn't. I felt like a Shetland Sheepdog. I was aptly dubbed "Julie the tour director". Do I look like I do crack, have a bad perm and was thrown off a terrible Aaron Spelling show in the 80's? All in all, it was a good day. It was good to get my friends out of their quadrants to do something different.

A Beautiful Disaster (Double-click on Picture)